Plywood floor tile



y 25, 1950 I w. M. MAXEY 2,516,329

PLYWOOD FLOOR TILE Filed Dec. 10, 1945 in, 10- \nmiw L'yi INVENTOR W. M. MAXEY Patented July 25, 1950 PLYWOOD FLooR I William Macdonald MaXeiQToronto, Ontario,

Canad Application December 10, 1945, Serial No. 633,901

. This invention relates to plywood floor tile.

Plywood floor tile provides a very substantial and decorative floor but up to the present time the use of this tile presents several disadvantages. Initially the tiles tend to warp so that in the ordinary type of tile, it is necessary to nail it to the floor base. This requires quite a number of nailing operations as, for instance, in a twelve by twelve inch tile it is usual to secure it to the floor by nine nails which represent a large number of nailing operations per tile and also have the result of showing nail holes. Alternatively, the holes may be filled which increases the number of operations and very often the filling is not particularly successful so that it shows, thus marring the appearance of the floor.

Plywood tiles have been proposed wherein the plies areconnected with the grain running in opposite directions in each ply and employing along the edges tongues and grooves so that the tiles may be fitted together with a view to avoiding warping. This necessitates substantial care and work in laying the fioor since the tiles have to be fitted together as they are laid and, moreover, it is still necessary to nail the tiles even though a less number of nails is required to prevent any general warping or lifting of a group of tiles over a given area. Finally, tiles of this character have to be laid on a base which will permit nailing.

These disadvantages are readily avoided by the present invention.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved simple plywood floor tile so constructed as to prevent warping thereof and which consequently may be laid in the same manner as other tiles through the use of a suitable cementing compound.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tile which may be laid on any suitable base including concrete or other material which ordinarily will not provide a nail anchoring medium.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tile which may be readily manufactured andat comparatively low cost.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tile in which the upper plywood thereof will .be subject to sanding, scraping or the like without offering any impediment to such an operation, such as in the case of nails, and which will permit sanding and resanding a number of times, thus to provide a floor which will have substantially long life and which may be maintained in good condition.

With these and other objects in view, the invention generally comprises a tile formed preferably from two plies of wood with the grain disposed in one ply in an opposite direction to that of the other and incorporating between the plies a metal reinforcing frame, preferably rust- 6 Claims. (01.26 89) proofed, designed to reinforce the tile particularly adjacent to and throughout the perimeter thereof, the said reinforcementbeing imbedded in the plies and forming a concealed stiffening agent operative to maintain a completely level tile.

Preferably the reinforcing frame, includes cross bracing elements extending betweenthe opposite corners of the frame and preferably also the re-'- inforcing frame takes the form of avery thin metal skeleton framework made rigid by ribbing formed therein and permitting a substantial area of the end surfaces of each ply to be exposed to the other for effecting a union thereof by a binder.

The invention will be clearly understood by reference to the following detailedspecification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings a Fig. 1 is a perspective and partly sectional View of tile according to the present invention, aportion of the upper ply of the tile being cut away to illustrate the reinforcing means therefor.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective detail of an alternative manner -of forming the reinforcing element.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of an edge of the completed tile showing in dotted lines the manner in which the reinforcement is im bedded in the plies.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective illustration and alternative manner of making the reinforcing element substantially rigid Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a further alternative manner of making the reinforcing element substantially rigid.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates one form of tilev according to the present invention which iscomposed of a lower ply I0 and an upper ply- I-l disposed preferably so that the grainofeach" 'runsin the opposite direction to the other. Be

tween-these plies a reinforcing frame B isdis posed. This preferably is formed from very thin sheet metal, preferably rust proof ed, which is cut to form the outer reinforcing border frame l2 which is of an area slightly less than'the area of the plies l0 and H; thus the frame border I2 is disposed to lie parallel to and slightly spaced 'inably braced by the integral diagonals l3 and and preferably also isperforated by a plurality' of series of orifices l5 punched in the border l2 and the diagonals l3 and 14 preferably so that burred edges project from the frame surrounding each orifice which will become imbedded in the plies of the tile, In this connection, the orifices may be so formed that the burred portions thereof will project from one face of the frame while others will project from the opposite face of the frame. The frame is made of substantially rigid character by suitable reinforcing measures, such as embracing the ridges it in the frame border l2 and the diagonals l3 and M.

This reinforcing member is disposed between the two plies Ii) and II in proper spaced relation to the edges thereof and the skeleton framework of the reinforcing element provides the extensive open spaces H which expose major portions of the inner surfaces of the plies i and H, whereas the orifices I 5 also expose an area of the surface sothat by introducing a suitable binder between the plies'and' subjecting the'plies to the predatormined pressure, they are firmly united together as a complete unitary element with the-reinforcing framework imbedd'ed to a small degree in each cfthe plies l0 and H (Fig. 3). Age result, there- .fore,-the tile iscompletely reinforced particularly throughout the marginal areas thereof and thus is prevented from warping in the manner which is onlyitoo common in the ordinary tileconstruction. Consequently, the tile may be used similarly tothe manner in which linoleum, rubbersor other laid in a very simple manner to provide a floor.

which is completely secured throughout the area of itsextent and'presents an unmarred surface which may be maintained in proper condition throughout its length. In this connection'it will be noted that a substantial depth from the top of the upper ply inwardly is provided without any intervening material so that the upper ply may be sanded and refinished a number of times, thus to provide a floor maintainable in good condition throughout a substantially long period of life. Moreover, if any one or more tiles become marked or deteriorated in any way through any cause, it is but a simple matter to lift that particular tile and replace it with a new one.

The construction may vary. For instance, as shown in Fig. 2, the. diagonals may include offset corner bracing members 18. Moreover, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the manner of making the reinforcing framework rigid may be effected by providing the undulating ribs I9, or pairs of ribs 20 may be provided parallel with the orifices l 5.

Alternatively, the reinforcement may take the form of a wire frame 21 (Fig. 6) which can be formed from one length of wire bent upon itself to forma framework and joined, for instance. at one corner 22 by welding. Thi wire is designed to have substantially rigid characteristics and when imbedded in the tile in the manner described, such as in connection with Fig.1, it will be apparent that a tile is produced which is reinforced throughout its marginal edges and thus in those areas wherereinforcement-is required to prevent warpin of the tile.

Upon referring to Fig. 7, it will be appreciated how simply the tilemay be laid to produce a com-' pletely finished floor. In thi case the base upon which the tile is laid is shown as concrete, as

indicated by the numeral 23. Any other suitablebase. of'course, can be used. Here this'base hasa coating of a suitable mastic 24 and the tiles are merely laid on the mastic without requiring any other special operation so that the floor may be laid in a minimum of time, resulting in a perfectly finished floor and, as previously indicated, eliminating any of the many extra steps required under normal practice, such as the nailing of each tile in numerous places and the filling of the nail holes where it is desired to have the best possible appearance. 'Under the present invention, a better appearance is produced than best possible under prior practice.

It will be perfectly evident that tile of this construction obviates the difficulties presented by the ordinary type of plywood tile since the reinforceinent prevents warping. Consequently, in use it completely obviates all the extra steps necessary in laying and nailing plywood tiles and in addition it may be mounted on any suitable base and bases which ordinarily would not take nails necessary to anchor the average plywood tile. Finally, it provides a substantial floor of particularly. good appearance unmarred by nail holes or filled holes.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A plywood tile comprising a laminated body formed fromtwo plies of wood and an interposed substantially rigid framework :of metal forming a continuous marginal reinforcing element disposed adjacent to but inwardly spaced from the peripheral edges of the tile and wholly imbedded between the. plies, said framework forming a substantially open area within its confines around the outer margins of the plies for inter-locking the marginal edges of the plies continuously throughout their periphery.

2. A tile as claimed in claim 1 in which the metal reinforcing frame is made of wire.

3. A tile as claimed in claim 1 in which the metal reinforcing frame comprises a marginal continuous band of metal and integral diagonal bands bracing the marginal band,

4. A tile as claimed in claim 1 in which a reinforcing metal framework comprises a continuous marginal band of thin sheet metal having a reinforcing rib extending therealong.

5. A tile as claimed in claim 1 in which the framework comprises a continuous marginal sheet metal having a reinforcing rib extending therealong, said band being perforated along its length, a binder between said plies to interlock the inner surfaces of the wood plies, said binder passing through said perforations.

6'. A tile as claimed in claim 1' in which the reinforcing framework is made from thin metal reinforced to form a substantially rigid framework, said framework including a continuous marginal band of metal and diagonally connecting bands, and ribs in said connecting bands to reinforce them.

WILLIAM MACDONALD MAXEY.

REFERENCES CITED The. following references are of record in the file of. this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date 488,809 Heppe Dec. 27, 1892 2,177,277 Burke Oct. 24, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date a 5,677 Great Britain i 1907 

